Blood stream: the best in true crime

A central figure in The Keepers is Jean Wehner, who told police in 1994 that Joseph Maskell had shown her Catherine Cesnik's body.

Can you figure out who did it?

At the heart of almost every true-crime documentary is a whodunit, or — if you already know the answer — a how done it or why done it or why-is-the-system-done-like-this. We’re in the midst of a boom in the genre, prompted by the success of the 2014 Serial podcast and Netflix’s Making a Murderer in 2015. Audiences have been captivated by stories of unsolved murders, wrongful convictions and everything in between. And with the recent debut of Making a Murderer Part 2 (now streaming on Netflix), the flood of docs shows no signs of slowing down.

If you’ve already devoured all 10 episodes of Murderer Part 2 or are just looking for a new mystery, here are some great true-crime documentary films and series (and one hilarious parody) available to stream.

The Keepers (Netflix): Keepers is likely the best true-crime docuseries in the recent wave, and certainly the best one Netflix has released. Ostensibly about the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, a nun and teacher, as investigated by her former students, the series is also about how power structures, including local governments and the Catholic Church, conspire to hide the truth and keep victims silent. Beyond exposing corruption, crimes and coverups, Keepers stands out because of the care and compassion with which the creators treat their subjects. Although the film graphically discusses horrifying topics such as child sexual assault, it never ventures into exploitative territory. Many documentaries are angering, but Keepers will take you far beyond anger. Its emotion is engulfing.

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Can you figure out who did it?

At the heart of almost every true-crime documentary is a whodunit, or — if you already know the answer — a how done it or why done it or why-is-the-system-done-like-this. We’re in the midst of a boom in the genre, prompted by the success of the 2014 Serial podcast and Netflix’s Making a Murderer in 2015. Audiences have been captivated by stories of unsolved murders, wrongful convictions and everything in between. And with the recent debut of Making a Murderer Part 2 (now streaming on Netflix), the flood of docs shows no signs of slowing down.

If you’ve already devoured all 10 episodes of Murderer Part 2 or are just looking for a new mystery, here are some great true-crime documentary films and series (and one hilarious parody) available to stream.

The Keepers (Netflix):Keepers is likely the best true-crime docuseries in the recent wave, and certainly the best one Netflix has released. Ostensibly about the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Cathy Cesnik, a nun and teacher, as investigated by her former students, the series is also about how power structures, including local governments and the Catholic Church, conspire to hide the truth and keep victims silent. Beyond exposing corruption, crimes and coverups, Keepers stands out because of the care and compassion with which the creators treat their subjects. Although the film graphically discusses horrifying topics such as child sexual assault, it never ventures into exploitative territory. Many documentaries are angering, but Keepers will take you far beyond anger. Its emotion is engulfing.

Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist (Netflix): If you prefer more subtle docs that guide — rather than drag — you through the story, Evil Genius is not for you. But if you don’t mind something less artfully done with a fantastic story, it’s worth a try. Of all the "stranger than fiction" tales, Evil Genius might be the weirdest, chronicling the infamous 2003 "pizza bomber," in which a delivery man in Erie, Pa., robbed a bank with a bomb strapped to his neck, claiming he was being forced to do so. The series lacks a nuanced take on the crime — it merely tells the story you might have heard on the news with far more detail, and without much objectivity — but it’s captivating nonetheless.

Wild Wild Country (Netflix): At first, this 2018 series doesn’t seem like a true-crime saga, but it unfolds into a twisty, conspiracy-laden thriller that surprises you at every turn. Country is an exhaustive look at what happened when a cult (the Rajneeshee community) purchased a swath of Oregon land in the 1980s to create a utopia. Things went very wrong in the nearby community and among the cult’s own followers.

The Sentence (HBO): HBO’s recent documentary isn’t a series, but it still packs an enormous punch in a single sitting. Rather than investigating a mystery, Sentence explores the devastating effect a prison sentence had on one woman’s family over the course of a decade. Cindy Valdez was convicted of conspiracy for the crimes her late boyfriend committed while they lived together and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The documentary chronicles Cindy’s time behind bars, her family’s efforts to free her and the hardships her three daughters faced growing up without their mother. Directed by Cindy’s brother Rudy, the film is intimate and shaking.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (HBO): Although this 2015 HBO series was an early entrant into the recent true-crime wave, it remains one of the most revealing. The series dug into the case of Durst, the black-sheep son of a real estate mogul, suspected of killing three people in a two-decade span. Without spoiling its bombshell ending, let’s just say that the filmmakers revealed more about their subject than he likely anticipated.

The Paradise Lost trilogy (HBO, Amazon Prime): Many documentaries often advocate for a cause, especially when there’s suspicion about whether the right person was convicted of a crime. But one thing that makes Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, the first film in HBO’s trilogy about the West Memphis Three, so effective is that it doesn’t take sides, but simply acts as the objective voice in a case that didn’t have many: the 1993 Arkansas murders of three young boys and the three teens convicted of the crimes, supposedly as part of a satanic ritual. Directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky tip the tone more toward advocacy for the teens’ innocence in the lesser followups, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000) and Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011), but the story’s happy ending makes all three movies must-watches.

The Staircase (Netflix): Released in three instalments over the past two decades, The Staircase provides incredibly intimate access to Michael Peterson, a man accused of killing his wife, Kathleen, in 2001, but who contends she died after falling down the stairs. Peterson is one of the most fascinating subjects, but the ambiguous series, thorough as it is, likely won’t convince you of either his guilt or innocence.

The Central Park Five (Amazon Prime): Legendary documentarian Ken Burns explored the infamous 1989 Central Park jogger case in 2012, with compelling, evocative results. The case was one of the most widely publicized crimes in recent U.S. history, but Burns — with his daughter Sarah and her husband David McMahon, who co-directed the film — examines the racial bias of both the police and the media that led the falsely accused "Five" to become the primary targets of the investigation.

O.J.: Made in America (Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes): This Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary is partly an examination of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, partly a biography of O.J. Simpson and partly a history of race in 20th-century America. The greatest accomplishment of O.J. is telling a story we’re all familiar with — Simpson’s rise and fall — while adding something new to the narrative. Is it a movie or a TV show? Either way, it’s a gorgeous and harrowing piece that will stick with you long after its end.

Wormwood (Netflix): A documentary blended with dramatic recreation, Errol Morris pushes the boundaries of the genre in his 2017 miniseries Wormwood. Morris, a legend in the field, investigates the theory that the CIA tested psychotropic drugs on its own employees and then mounted a coverup after experiments went terribly wrong. Told through the eyes of one man who believes his father was murdered, the documentary, combined with haunting performances by Peter Sarsgaard, Molly Parker and Jimmi Simpson, make Wormwood as unsettling as the material it covers.

Bonus: American Vandal (Netflix): It’s not true crime, but if you’re in the mood to have all the hallmarks and idiosyncrasies of the true-crime genre hilariously and expertly satirized, enjoy this mockumentary series that applies the formula to high school pranks. The first season, which investigates who graffitied teachers’ cars with penises, is pure parody, but the second, about a series of poop-related crimes, is a deeper examination of the pressures of adolescence.

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